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Before The Dawn
Cosmic Genisis The Nothing According to my well versed knowledge of everything arcane, In the begining there was nothing. Though no-one knows how; a terrible entropic monster arrived in the nothing and the nothing fought back. During this conflict certain elemental energies were introduced into the cosmos. Whatever the "nothing" was won and destroyed the monster, releasing entropy and matter into the cosmos. The supposed "soul" of the creature then passed through the elements; sparking a potential for life. It traveled far above the ensuing chaos back into the void and then ever higher until it dissipated throughout the topmost expanses. This universe of infinite nothing had infintie potential for creation; so the elements churned on infinitely, until they had no end. The thoughts, memories, drives, wants, wills and aspirations of the creature also spread on forever. Eventually the too growing forces pushed eachother out of the plane taking a tiny bit of eachother with them, leaving the cosmos filled with nothing but the stars. This is how the creation of the fundamental planes came to pass. Those more abstract energies came rolling into a fine mist of soul that supported the tiny motes of matter that had made it into the plane above. We now call this the Astral Sea. Those churning elements, containing a sliver of thought and reason, bore into eachother until the vastness of what lied below the plane of stars could only be called the Elemental Chaos. The Primordials and the Elemental Chaos Untold eons passed in The Plane Below as the first Primordials began to form out of the chaos. These elemental creatures churned, shaped, and destroyed the chaos. The primordials; otherwise referred to as Dawn Titans; became the lords of this plane. Other lesser creatures coalesced out of the energies that created the Primordial Lords, such as Elementals and possibly Slaads. As some time passed other less chaotic creatures came fourth from the elements; Genies like the Efreets, Djinn, Dao, and Marid being just some of these. These races were far more orderly than the other elemental creatures and would carve out elemental kingdoms over the ages to come. The Primordials did not like the orderly nature of some of the natural denizens of the elemental chaos, but thought too little of them to bother exterminating their species. It is not known why, but after untold time the Primordials universly felt that something should be created from the chaos, not something permanent, but something none the less. The task that they felt was at hand would require aid, So they set about creating something like themselves, something possible of great chaotic creation and destruction, something that could rule over the other denizens of chaos. The primordials worked together churning the elements at their disposable into something more intelligent then the Elementals but less structured then the Genies. The Primordials succeeded, creating the Titans. For untold eons the Primordials and Titans worked together creating worlds from the elemental soup than due to their entropic nature, they would immediatley destroy them, pulling them back into the chaos. The most beautiful world they ever created escaped their grasp and slid into the mortal plane. Into the view of the gods. The Gods and The Astral Sea Meanwhile in The Plane Above the individual thoughts contained within the astral mists started to pull together into beings of great conceptual power. Beings we now worship as The Gods. No two gods shared a dominion; a particular area of power over a concept. But their numbers were so great that every possible non-evil dream, thought, and aspiration was covered; mere thoughts from a god would shape and alter that matter which exsisted in the astral sea. Anything a god thought of could exist, but without any referance as to that which could exist, the gods did not create much during these formulative years; primarily shaping that which they saw instead. The gods even shaped eachother during these years, giving eachother shape to match their personality and power. Io, being composed of both astral thought and elemental motes of power, was the most powerful god, and ruled as god of gods. Other creatures started to form in the astral mists as timed rolled on, Angels formed purely from the mists and Coatls forming off the light cast by Io. Though other creatures like the Illumians formed during this time, many do not exist anymore and are mostly forgotten. Eventually the gods created astral dominions; homes which perfectly reflected the abilities and personalities of the god that resided within. Erathis thought the gods should have a sence of community, so her and Moradin started to created a system that connected all the countless astral dominions together. This system was called The Lattice of Heaven, and when it was done the Astral Sea would be perfect. The Living Gate Pelor thought to light the entire Astral Sea and set his eyes on all that exsisted, it was on this quest that he found the Living Gate. This gate was protected by a being whose purpose was to prevent the gate from being opened, so that none could peer into the madness beyond. The being was neither God nor Primordial but still kin to both. Ioun wished to understand all things so she followed Pelor on his quest with a third unknown god. In the farthest reaches of the Astral Sea the three aproached The Living Gate. Ioun wishing to know what was behind it, awoke the slumbering thing while the third god, who feared no danger and questioned all authority, distracted it's guardian while Pelor shone light into the gate so that they may see what lied behind. After catching a glimpse the three left the gate and swore to never speak of it or what lied behind it again to anyone. They returned to their astral homes linked by a terrible secret. Other Creatures of the Astral Sea Over the course of a millenia other immortal creatures started to unintentionally arise from the astral mists. Coatl and Angels being amongst these, these creatures were left alone to do as they wished so long as they remained beneficial to the Astral Sea and the gods as a whole. The Gods were content with ruling over there seperate domains for the next couple thousand years, until they saw a world form in the mortal plane. World's Genisis When the Elemental Chaos and the Astral Sea were first forming, The Gods and the Primordials thought little of eachother. The planes were separated by their planar walls, and very few creatures had the ability to see past them. Even the ones who could didn't understand what they were seeing. Primordials couldn't comprehend the conceptual, matterless form of the creatures of the astral sea and the gods had trouble understanding the chaotic, elemental, matter-based forms of the denizens of the Elemental Chaos. The Primordials Create Firstone and its Echoes Since the very beginning the primordials had been creating and destroying worlds, very few wizards or lorekeepers know why, but when they tried to destroy that which would be known as Firstone they did not succeed. The primordials looked at it and saw that there was too much light and arcane energy, this alone would hold the world together once it was time for it to be absorbed back into the chaos. In other places the world contained too much darkness and necrotic energies, which might hold the world together as well. The primordials, not wanting their cycle of entropy to be disturbed, told the titans to rip the arcane light and the necrotic darkness from firstone. The Titans then threw these pieces into what they viewed as the void, luckily enough for us, this act is also what pushed Firstone into the mortal plane. The primordials were not upset with the loss of the world, they thought that they could push the Elemetal Chaos into the middle plane. The titans continued pulling the light and darkness out of the world; and labored away on Firstone trying to make it into an elemental chaos all its own. Their Primordial masters would have been very upset if they had known that through their combined effort The World, The Feywild, and The Shadowfell would unintentionally be born. Moradin's Creation, The Mortal World When Firstone appeared in the nothing it officially became the world of what we now call the mortal plane. The world, having been made in the elemental chaos was composed of matter of all forms, but being sandwiched between the two planes gave the world strange properties. In the astral sea there is no entropy due to everything within the plane being abstract and immortal. In the elemental chaos everything comes to an end for it was a plane of arcane matter and the utmost destruction. So the world picked up divine grace from the Astral Sea and elemental arcane magic from the Elemental Chaos. The Grace of the Astral Sea gave it the capability to sustain life, and a strong power in the planes core; the magic of The Elemental Chaos introduced entropy and death to all of the life that the astral sea could sustain on Firstone, and thus the Mortal Realm became Mortal. The Primal Spirits and the Mortal Races When the majority of the gods saw Firstone they thought little, but Moradin immediately saw its potential. Moradin went down to the chunk of elemental debris and started working. When he discovered stone he was entranced by its might and durability (which in truth reminded him of himself) so from this raw primordial stone Moradin crafted the first mountains. This in turn inspired the ancient god Kronata to come to the mortal wolrd and upon the discovery of magma she altered mountains to create the first volcanoes. The gods watched as they played with the raw stuff of creation. Scholars debate whether it was the potency of Moradin's immortal breath alone that infused the plane with enough energy that the astral magic already living and surging through the world gained its sentience or whether the existence of the plane itself necessitated the Primal Spirits into being. Regardless, Moradin initially did not notice the presence of the primal spirits and later when the gods did notice the guardians spirits of the world they thought little of them. Moradin continued his work and it was discovered that the longer he stayed in the mortal realm the less powerful he became, he saw how the titans were composed of matter and did not lose their power while on Firstone; so he modeled himself after them, taking a more mortal form so he could retain his power in the mortal realm; and so it was that Moradin was the first god to corperate. The other gods saw what Moradin had done but many remained reluctant to do the same. Eventually however Moradin and Kronata were joined by Tuern, Gorelik and Melora. As Moradin crafted his mountains and Kronata her volcanoes, Melora found water and filled the world with, thus creating the first oceans. Tuern discovered flame and nurtured what he found into mighty infernoes and Gorelik ran wild with the primal spirits learning the way of The Primal Beast. The other gods then understood the possibilities of Firstone and left the Astral Sea, picking mortal forms and shaping the world. Once a god understood how to alter real matter they would tend to pick a favorite. The gods, who prior only had one domain, now picked multiple; some picked elemental, some picked material and others picked domains more familiar, more conceptual like creation, and time. They worked alongside the primal spirits who helped along the efforts of the gods, suggesting and shaping how the world should and would work after it was complete. Eventually a small number of primordials found their way to Firstone. The continued to direct the titans on their great work and peacefully coexsisted with the gods. Realizing that the gods would surely fight for control over Firstone, one of the them; though it is now forgotten who; offered a compromise that suggested that they all would rule this world evenly. Though in the Astral Sea they ruled over disconnected separate dominions, this would not be true of the mortal world. The compromise continued, stating that as a symbol of good faith the gods would share a set of advisors and servants. The angels saw themselves as the purest race in the Astral Sea, due to having no emotions or identities to soil their judgment and naturally volunteered to be the servents of the gods until the gods great work no longer existed. The Gods agreed and the angels were sworn into this pact, they would only adhere to the rules and doctrines of one god at a time, but once their purpose had been served they would move to the doctrines of another god. This pact still governs the heavens today. In order to bypass this pact, some gods (inspired by the primordials creation of titans) created angels of their own, and angels for other gods. Very few gods were powerful enough to due this, but the ancient god He Who Must Not Be Named created angels more powerful and more beautiful than any other god, until his dominion of Baathion had thousands of angels, each with its own name and personality. The altering of the earth was not enough believed some of these great creators. So many, whther they be primordial or god created the first mortal creatures. Demogoron, a primordial of the sea created manta and sting rays. Sagawhen created insects and other vermin. Gorelik and who would soon be The Chained God created unintelligent beasts ranging from behemoths and primates to hyena and wolves to cow and birds; all of wich were in some way based upon the visage of The Primal Beast. After years of shaping by The Titans, The Gods and The Angels. It looked as if it was time for Firstone to be inhabited. The world was not fit for a god, so it was Moradin who decided to see if he could create its inhabitants. He took the finest diamonds and from these he crafted the first dwarves on the Soulforge. Maglubiyet then immmediatley responded with the creation of hobgoblins. Gorellik created gnoll, hyenas and hyenadons as He Who Was also created Humans. Io saw what Moradin and the others had created and thought them weak. He then tried to create a mortal race as powerful as the gods, he infused them with the elements that floated as motes in the sea, and these were the first dragons. Even some primordials created new races, for instance the primordial Baphomet created what would one day be minotaurs, wanting to prove to the other gods that he could replace Melora as the god of the wild. Though only Codricuhn, Ilmeth, Demogorgon and Baphomet are remembered as primordials that helped shape the world and its races, there were many more that peacefully coexisted with the gods during this time. Other gods made races in their own image, some gods even populated Firstone with beast, plants and unintelligent animals which were apparently modeled after the primal spirits. Not all the gods could create life or had an interest in creating life though. Kord mastered storms while his mother Kahla mastered dominion over the cold. Zehir could create unintelligent beasts but could not make a race all his own, so Avandra shared some of her power over change and allowed it so that he could alter and shape any race, but its creator must agree. The gods altered the earth and the primal spirits sustained it and held it together. The titans saw the mortal races that the gods were crafting and wished to have servents of their own. Modeling their children after the symmetrical mortals of the gods resulted with the giants. The giants and titans helped with the creation of Firstone as the primordials oversaw; the gods never realized that these elementals would destroy Firstone once it came to completion; so they aided the elementals; offering them gifts amongst other things. The Primordials wished to have agents like the dwarves, who were tough artizens, and would be very useful in the shaping of the churning elements that made Firstone. Moradin, was very proud that the Dawn Titans would pick his children above those of the other gods, and gave them dwarves in huge numbers. The primordials then gave the dwarves to their titans and giants, who ruled over them during The Age of Chains. The Mirror Planes, The Shadowfell and The Feywild Some gods like Kahla, Zehir, Laeris, Sagawehn and the Triune Sehanine, Correllon, and Lolth felt less connected to Firstone and discovered the planes of Faerie and Shadow, and their worlds, The Shadowfell and The Feywild. Gods who played in these realms gave birth to the creatures of fey and shadow like the Tel-Quessir and the Sorrowsworn. The gods followed the same pattern in these worlds as they did in the mortal world, those gods that did not create life discovered and created new concepts and energies. Correllon discovered the arcane power surging through The Feywild and learned to master it, thus creating the Arcane Arts. Zehir found the the darkness in The Shadowfell intoxicating and after learning to control it became the god of darkness. The Primal Spirits attempted to follow the gods into these mirror planes but could not do so. So the elder spirit Grandmother Spider weaved strands of fate connecting the three worlds. This is the reason that primal heroes can manifest there powers in these planes and that the three planes contain the same geography and most of the same cities and locales. Life even started to form by itself in these planes because of Fate Weaver's conection. In the Feywild Fomorians spawned at counterparts to the Titans in the natural world, which eventually lead to their creation of the Cyclops as counterparts to the giants, and Dark ones spawned in the Shadowfell as counterparts to humans. The Fey Gods The Triune Harmony: Sehanine, Lolth, and Corellon and a seperate god named Sagawehn, preferred the feywild to the natural world. Together the Triune abandoned their Astral Dominion and with the help of Avandra attempted to create a divinely powered home in the feywild named Arvandor. Corellon alone created the Tel-Quessir. There are many contradicting origin stories but the one to be believed is that they came fourth from his tears. The elves that would be his favored came from his tears upon seeing the beauty of the Feywild. Those that would become Sehanine's chosen came from his tears of laughter caused by Lolth's dark jests. Those that would be Lolth's favorite came from his tears of sorrow, upon seeing the first deaths of the fey mortals. Corellon, while mastering the arcane arts that spawned from the plane of faerie, discovered the source of the mystical power that surged through the realm. The entire plane was laced with Ley lines; naturally occuring veins of arcane might which surge through the world in order to sustain it. Following the shape and pattern of these lines across the plane taught Corellon many of the symbols and delicate strokes used to master the arcane. Sagawehn had already populated Firstone with all manner of insectoid vermin, but they were far to mortal in the mortal realm, so in a hope to make her favored children more powerful, she followed the triplets into the prefrabricated Arvandor, hoping the inate magic of the place and its location amongst the ley lines in the Feywild could make up for what her children lacked; though she rarely sought worship throughout the Plane of Faerie. Sehanine and Corellon thought little of The Winged Mistress but Lolth thought the webs spun by Sagawehn's spiders were beautiful beyond understanding, Lolth invented weaving, and eventually by watching the Elder Primal Spirit, Grandmother Spider, she learned to weave with the strings of fate becoming one of the gods of fate. The Triune Harmony mostly kept to themselves during the construction of Arvandor and the shaping of the feywild, trying to never mix with the other gods. Sagawehn, though resideing in Arvandor still dealt prominately with the mortal world and even with her presence in Arvandor the Triplets ruled alone as the entire Fey Pantheon, with the denizens of faerie never knowing of the other gods. The Shadowfell and It's Role in the Cycle of Death Aurom, the God of the cycle of life had seen that when a mortal died it's soul would leave the cosmos in its entirety and sometimes it would not, sometimes choosing to linger near the god the soul had worshiped during its lifetime, before moving on. When a soul did linger, there was always a delay, some amount of time between the mortal dying and its soul appearing in the astral dominion of its god. The Shattered One did not know what caused the delay, but upon discovery of the Shadowfell, found out that all mortal souls pass to the Shadowfell then after lingering sometime would move on into the great unknown. Aurom told Erathis and Moradin of this, and they incorporated it into the design of the Lattice. Now when a mortal died its soul would move into the Shadowfell, linger for some time, then the Lattice of heaven would catch the soul upon its ascent into the unknown and the soul would be transported into Aurom's astral dominion, Pluton. The Shattered One would then push the soul along the lattice into the respective heaven of the deity the mortal worshiped in life. Creating the first Exalted. If the Mortal soul did not worship a god in life than it would instead be immediately ferried into the great unknown. The gods enjoyed having their followers enjoy near-immortality with them in their astral dominions. This cycle is what kept and keeps the Shadowfell from devouring itself, with a steady flow of souls entering and leaving the shadowfell it remains held together. The same way that the Mortal world was sustained by the Primal Spirits or The Feywild was sustained by the arcane energies of the Ley Lines. The Titans and Giants followed the gods into these planes and saw for the first time what they had unintentionally created. These elementals spread out through the mirror worlds, establishing kingdoms and ruling over the races that naturally resided in them. The Giants that ventured into the Feywild discovered the powers surging through the ley lines and wished to harness it. The Titans of the Shadowfell learned that the souls of the dead were a powerful arcane source.They Established their kingdoms around great fonts of such power never truly understanding the effects that these planes would later have on them. The Divine Compromise Creates the Natural Order During this time of creation and alteration the gods struggled for control of the natural order of things. Zehir contested rule of the sky with Pelor becuase the sun banished the darkness, while Pelor on the other hand fought with Kahla, whose mists and snows block the life-giving sun. Pelors opponent's cause gained allies as did Pelor's. On one side stood Kahla, Zehir, Tuern, and Sehanine, while on the other side stood Pelor, Corellon, Erathis and Melora. The two forces continued to argue for ages with no avail, leaving behind grudges and alliences that still exist today. Then when she could listen no more Avandra parlayed the two factions. She offered the concept of day and night to stop the quarreling Zehir and Pelor. As a compromise for Pelor and Kahla she suggested alternating seasons of summer and winter. The gods weary of the bickering agreed, Pelor was rewarded day and summer, Zehir was rewarded night, Kahla was given winter and for their aid in the conflict Corellon was given spring so his trees could bloom and be merry and Sehanine was given autumn the season of twilight. This divine compromise is what set the laws of nature and heaven in order and still holds sway today. Though the compromise was honored by all, it didn't settle all disagreements, and Avandra, who usually had the mortals best interests on her side, was not always trusted as a mediator. When the gods would argue; their will would alter shape and destroy the mortal world, thus was their power. They agreed that something else had to be done to stop their arguments. They tried to find mediators often turning to Ioun or Avandra and sometimes even angels or mortals, but no-one could be trusted as a fair judge. Amoth and Moradin went about seeing if they could create a fair judge. Ioun had already established that anything living could not in turn be unbiased in some way, so they wished to create something that was not truly living. They enlisted the aid of Torog and Tuern. Moradin and Torog then forged great bodies that looked of stone or metal, but were in fact made from the the stuff of the Astral Sea. Amoth with the aid of Torog went about capturing and trapping unborn souls of angels. Then Amoth and Tuern channeled the spirits into these bodies. Thus these gods created the first Marut. An unborn being burning with the spirit of an angel but without the needs, wants, urges or biases of the living. From then on the gods took their disputes to the Marut, knowing their answers to be correct even of they disagreed. This Marut, along with the help of the rest of the maruts later birthed during these years, attempted to capture what the gods spoke into a symbolic alphabet. The God of the Word helped with this process, creating a great tablet for which these runes to be written. The Maruts wrote a message of grave importance upon this tablet, either telling the fate of souls that move into the great beyond, or telling of the very end of the universe. They worked on this tablet during the centuries in which the gods meddeled with the world. Though to the gods it felt like little time had passed, multiple generations of the new mortals had already come and gone experiencing a near completed world. The mortals worshipped the gods in their entirety, the gods in turn would aid by sending down their angels. Other mortals that lived far from where the gods were working instead turned towards the Primal Spirits and as their forefathers would pass on into death the mortals worshipped their ancestors. Later these ancestors would continue to add to the pantheon of Primal Spirits.